


I'm yours

by Ghost_Writer



Category: Swimming RPF
Genre: Fluff and Angst, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-05-27
Updated: 2013-05-27
Packaged: 2017-12-12 23:23:24
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,508
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/817261
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ghost_Writer/pseuds/Ghost_Writer
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>It takes Michael 11 months, 3 weeks, 6 days, 19 hours and 43 minutes to realise he loves Ryan.</p>
            </blockquote>





	I'm yours

**Author's Note:**

> slight edit to make the times and dates match up

Michael got good at pretending, good at pretending he likes his life, the golf and the fame. He was good at pretending he loved Megan, good at pretending he loved the girl after that. But deep down inside he was lost.

He was Michael Phelps, 18 time Olympic Gold medalist, GOAT but deep down inside he was still the same 15 year old he was back in Sydney. All he wanted was someone to except him for who he was, not for the fame, the medals and everything that came with that. He was still just a little boy playing at being grown-up, searching for the one person that loves him as Michael, not as Michael Phelps, for what he is outside of the pool. That was the one thing that was missing from his life.

It takes Michael almost a year to realise who was missing in his life

**

Technically, only the athletes were allowed in the changing rooms, but he was Michael Phelps, nothing ever stopped him from getting what he wanted, even if it meant using his fame. A flash of white teeth, a friendly clap on the shoulder and it was “all right, Mr. Phelps, just this once.” He breezed inside like he had never left, like he was still part of it all.  
  
Things had a lot had changed, a lot could change in nearly a year. Old friends had retired too. There were new kids roaming around, well, they were mostly wide-eyed brats fresh on the international scene. He didn’t begrudge them their excitement, he could still remember how it was for him, he could still remember how he was in Sydney.  
  
A few of the swimmers looked up as he passed by, not sure what to see or if they were really seeing the great Michael Phelps. Some of them smiled and nodded, others merely stared, but none talked to him, which was fine by him because he’s got nothing to say to any of them. He only wanted to see Ryan.  
  
He found Ryan packing his bag in a corner. He was quiet, for a change, bobbing his head to the music from his headphones while carefully tucking away his things. And suddenly it was like the first time they met: Michael, standing awkwardly, waiting to be noticed, and Ryan, with his easy charm and unconscious grace, moving tantalizingly out of reach. Michael shuffled nervously, feeling out of sorts. It was as though he couldn’t talk to Ryan without having raced first, without being the other man’s rival or training buddy. Yet they were supposed to be friends.  
  
Only Michael had been kind of a shitty friend since he’d left the racing circuit. Going off hanging out with other people, not texting Ryan for weeks, months.  He didn’t know how to approach Ryan without a swimming pool. He knew he owed Ryan more than he gave him, afer all Ryan had told him he was the love of his life. He acted like a jerk after that night in London when Ryan told Michael he loved him. They had been fucking for 8 years, but love? No it wasn't love for Michael and yet it had been for Ryan.

''I will always be yours'' Ryan had said as Michael walked out of Ryan's room. That was the last time he really spoke to Ryan, almost a year ago.  
   
But he was going to change that right now, before he lost his bottle, before Ryan retired and met someone else and vanished from his life for good. Michael cleared his throat. “Hey, Ryan.”

Ryan turned around and broke into a genuinely surprised, happy smile. “Michael!'' He tugged off his headphones and pulled Michael into a hug. Michael breathed in deep; he’d forgotten how much he missed the smell of chlorine and generic shower soap found in locker rooms the world over.  
  
“How did you get in?” Ryan shook his head and laughed. “No, I know. How are you? Have you been here all week? Why didn’t you ring me up earlier?”  
  
Michael looked down at his feet. For nearly a year, he’d avoided Ryan completely, and now Ryan was talking to him like nothing had changed between them, like Michael hadn't broken his heart. And, a tiny voice in the back of Michael’s mind whispered hopefully, maybe nothing _had_ changed. That Ryan might still love him, might want him back.  
  
“Well, I didn’t want to make a big deal of it and be a distraction. Been lurking around, mostly.” he replies still looking at his shoes  
  
“Hard to imagine you lurking in a swimmingpool,” Ryan pointed out mockingly, punching him in the shoulder.  
  
“I can be incognito when I want to be,” Michael claimed, grinning. Yes, it was just like old times, the joking and teasing and the way Ryan so casually touched him. “But I wanted to come down and congratulate you.”  
  
''Thanks MP, I missed you, good to see you again''  
  
Michael nodded slowly, then shifted his hand to take Ryan’s. “I also wanted to come down…and apologize.” For a moment, it seemed as though Ryan would pull his hand away, but the flash of hesitation subsided and Michael pressed on.  
  
“I am sorry about what I did in London, you didn't deserve that.”  
  
“Well. No.” Ryan let his thumb run over Michael’s knuckles slowly, as though in consideration.

''I’ve really missed you, Ry. I want to go back to the way we were'  
  
And Ryan slipped his hand out of Michael’s with a sigh. ''I told you I love you and you ran anway, how can I trust you?”  
  
''I got scared, I didn't ever think about love, how i felt about you''  Michael sighs and sits down on on of the benches '' what was I suppose to do?''  
  
''Not run away, not break my heart'' Ryan says with a sigh

''All I know is the past year has been the loneliest of my life. Not having you with me, not being able to talk to you, have you wake up next to me'' Michael cracks his knuckles, he has a habit of doing that when he is nervous ''I was scared that I would lose you as a friend...''

''Please Mike, don't'' Ryan says standing up and closing his bag.

''What do you want me to say'' Michael asks almost pleading

Ryan turns back towards Michael ''I missed you, but if you want me you be your friend again then the answer is no''

Ryan walks towards the door and Michael knows what Ryan wants to hear but he can't bring himself to say it. The door closes and Ryan is gone for good. Michael puts his hand in his heads and feels his heart break. He sighs, he doesn't want to go home alone, doesn't want to go back to pretending.

He realises in that moment that he has two choices, let Ryan walk out of his life forever of go after him and risk having his own heart break.

''Ryan wait'' Michael yells running after Ryan into the lobby.

''What'' Ryan says a little bit pissed of

Michael sighs ''There is something I need to say before you go, something you need to know''  
  
''Mike please don't, you don't...''  
  
''I Love you Ryan Lochte'' Michael yelss at the top of his voice across the lobby, not caring who hears.

''What'' Ryan says walking back over to Michael

''I love you, I always have''  
   
Ryan smiles ''You really mean it? Your not going to change your mind''  
  
Michael shakes his head and leans in to kiss Ryan again

''I love you Ryan, I was an idiot to let you go''

“The biggest,” Ryan smiles and kisses Michael again. Ryan's eyes crinkle at the corners in an artfully resigned expression. “Good thing I’m used to it. You’ve no idea how I’ve missed you Michael.”  
  
Michael takes a deep breath and grins like a fool.  
  
“Come on, I want to get out of here, lets get something to eat” Ryan says grabbing Michael's hand

“Sure,” Michael replies amiably, following Ryan towards the exit.  
   
“Should I tell you what we’ll do after?” Ryan asks in a suggestively wicked tone.  
  
“I think I know,” Michael retorts indignantly. “I’m not that slow.”  
  
“You’ll never prove it without a race!” Ryan laughs, pushing open the door. He holds it open for a second, allowing Michael to step through with him. And then they leave the pool together, at last.  
  
And it hit Michael in that moment as he walked out of the pool holding Ryan's hand, that he had found that one person that loved him, loved him as Michael and not as Michael Fred Phelps, 18 time Olympic Gold medalist and Greatest Olympian of all time. He never thought that the one person who would love him as just Michael was his rival, his equal, his friend.

''Ry'' Michael says looking into Ryan eyes

''Yes MP'' Ryan replied with a small smile

''I am yours, I will always be yours''

 

 


End file.
